Men's team picks up transfer Guard Miles Kelly

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,992]

1 hour ago, GwillMac6 said:

It’s why I don’t like him and don’t f#%*k with him.

Can I stop receiving @s and quotes from you if that's the case? Thanks in advance! 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,992]

I seem to remember us being higher on this a couple weeks ago, with Purdue being a team I can remember as being lower. No clue who they added. I don't remember if Bama was lower than us, but I know we were around the same spot. 

[fishepa 1,958]

If AL is going to be perenially in the top 5 college bball is going to be ruined for me.  

[arktiger1975 643]

3 hours ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

People want to get back on topic, so I won’t derail the thread further, but there’s multiple games last year that clearly don’t agree with this assertion (UConn, Purdue, Creighton, namely). But yes, I’ll let the thread get back on track 

I just know they didn't fare too well versus the other 3 teams in conference with comparable talent. Swept by UT (including a 20 plus point loss in Knoxville), split with us (very close win up there, blown out in Auburn, and Kentucky had them down 40 in their only meeting. They feasted on the bad teams 

[arktiger1975 643]

2 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

Turn me all the way up @AUSCalum87!!!! I like this new version of you!!!! Death to the tahhhhhhhhd and that hall and Oates ugly ass big ears backup singer!!!! All hayuuuuuul KAAAANG Bruce!!!!! Woooooo!!!!! Love it!!!

Here is some advice for ya. you got to know that @Dual-Threat Rigby is the biggest oats and bama bball fanboy around. He will defend him and their honor until he’s blue in the face and takes his dying breath. It’s why I don’t like him and don’t f#%*k with him. He loves talking about Oates and bama bball and singing their praises way more than AU and it overcooks the ish out of my grits and makes me get red in the face and as mad as Bruce would get at a bad KD play!!! 😂😂

One thing you will never, ever have to worry about with me is being a message board infomercial creator/propaganda guy for the turds. I don't care if they won 100 games in a row.

[AUSCalum87 453]

5 minutes ago, arktiger1975 said:

I just know they didn't fare too well versus the other 3 teams in conference with comparable talent. Swept by UT (including a 20 plus point loss in Knoxville), split with us (very close win up there, blown out in Auburn, and Kentucky had them down 40 in their only meeting. They feasted on the bad teams 

Exactly!

[arktiger1975 643]

46 minutes ago, fishepa said:

If AL is going to be perenially in the top 5 college bball is going to be ruined for me.  

Whether they maintain their success or not, I can promise you one thing. You don't have to worry about them turning into a bama football type dynasty. It's just not the nature of basketball. Nearly every team in the conference has an outstanding coach now. 

[arktiger1975 643]

1 hour ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

I seem to remember us being higher on this a couple weeks ago, with Purdue being a team I can remember as being lower. No clue who they added. I don't remember if Bama was lower than us, but I know we were around the same spot. 

I bet Dan Hurley already has this on the bulletin board in Storrs. 

[AUSCalum87 453]

1 hour ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

I seem to remember us being higher on this a couple weeks ago, with Purdue being a team I can remember as being lower. No clue who they added. I don't remember if Bama was lower than us, but I know we were around the same spot. 

This is why I don’t trust sports media because they aren’t very knowledgeable when it comes to basketball. I would have UCONN number one because I still think they have an amazing roster and have the best coach in college basketball. 2) Kansas 3) Houston 4) Duke 5)Gonzaga 6) UAT 7) Auburn 8- Iowa State 9) Baylor and 10) UNC. What’s your top ten?

[AUSCalum87 453]

3 minutes ago, arktiger1975 said:

Whether they maintain their success or not, I can promise you one thing. You don't have to worry about them turning into a bama football type dynasty. It's just not the nature of basketball. Nearly every team in the conference has an outstanding coach now. 

Yea, as much talent as they have had, Auburn has matched them pretty well in the regular season. I still don’t think Oats has the personality to keep all of them happy and it will cause some internal issues. But yea, it’s why I don’t really listen to mainstream sports media, they talk about UAT too much. Just enjoy what we have and see how far we can go this year. I’m telling you this is the most talented and versatile team Pearl has ever had.

[arktiger1975 643]

17 minutes ago, AUSCalum87 said:

Yea, as much talent as they have had, Auburn has matched them pretty well in the regular season. I still don’t think Oats has the personality to keep all of them happy and it will cause some internal issues. But yea, it’s why I don’t really listen to mainstream sports media, they talk about UAT too much. Just enjoy what we have and see how far we can go this year. I’m telling you this is the most talented and versatile team Pearl has ever had.

I agree about our team. As far as UAT, they are the media darling in every sport nowadays. A lot like Notre Dame used to be.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,992]

54 minutes ago, arktiger1975 said:

I just know they didn't fare too well versus the other 3 teams in conference with comparable talent. Swept by UT (including a 20 plus point loss in Knoxville), split with us (very close win up there, blown out in Auburn, and Kentucky had them down 40 in their only meeting. They feasted on the bad teams 

That they did - to me you take the good with the bad. They had an elite OOC schedule and looked really good, outside of the very end of those games. That trend followed them into tourney play. Auburn looked…solid? In OOC play. That trend followed them into the tourney.

It’s really just whichever result you prefer. You got one team that showed up for conference play a little bit more than the other (keep in mind Alabama had the same conf record that we did and played Florida, Kentucky and Tennessee almost twice as many times as we did, which I think gets lost in this attempted point.) and you got another team that did more out of OOC. But it is nuts to me to say we looked like a way better team (when evaluating how the schedules played out) even before their tournament run. No metrics would say that and the record didn’t say that

[arktiger1975 643]

44 minutes ago, AUSCalum87 said:

This is why I don’t trust sports media because they aren’t very knowledgeable when it comes to basketball. I would have UCONN number one because I still think they have an amazing roster and have the best coach in college basketball. 2) Kansas 3) Houston 4) Duke 5)Gonzaga 6) UAT 7) Auburn 8- Iowa State 9) Baylor and 10) UNC. What’s your top ten?

My current top 10:

1. UConn

2. Iowa St

3. Houston

4. Baylor

5. Auburn 

6. Kansas 

7. Alabama 

8. Gonzaga

9. Texas A & M

10. Duke

[AUSCalum87 453]

20 minutes ago, arktiger1975 said:

I agree about our team. As far as UAT, they are the media darling in every sport nowadays. A lot like Notre Dame used to be.

Yea, it’s why I change the channel or listen to something else when they start talking. These sports media types push a lot of agendas. Again, why has no one discussed about before the NCAA tournament UAT that their last 4 losses were blowouts and almost lost to Arkansas at home in overtime in the last weekend? Why is that not relevant? And why is it not relevant that they had the easiest path to the final 4 in decades? They played beat a 13, 12, 1, 7 and lost by double digits to UCONN. These are facts. But let’s ignore it because they made it to the final four and they 4 players returning from that team. I still ask how did they upgrade at their guard position when Youngblood and the kid from Pepperdine are ranked lower than Pegues as well as Aden who was nothing at Auburn. Again, it is recency bias as well as pushing agendas. Who cares that Auburn beat them by almost 20, that doesn’t count. Ok, I’m stopping, getting frustrated again. 🤣 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,992]

46 minutes ago, AUSCalum87 said:

This is why I don’t trust sports media because they aren’t very knowledgeable when it comes to basketball. I would have UCONN number one because I still think they have an amazing roster and have the best coach in college basketball. 2) Kansas 3) Houston 4) Duke 5)Gonzaga 6) UAT 7) Auburn 8- Iowa State 9) Baylor and 10) UNC. What’s your top ten?

from what knowledge I know of, I’d like UConn, Kansas and Alabama in that order, then probably Houston, Duke and Gonzaga in some order. That top 3 is in a tier, then the next 3. UConn is at the point where I just have to trust the pedigree, plus they did a great job of grooming the Clingan replacement. He got some great minutes in high leverage games, so Samson should be ready to go day 1. I could see having Kansas at third with losing out on Kugel and Philon, but they lost those dudes bc they already had a ridiculous rotation. Should be a revenge tour type year for them 

[AUSCalum87 453]

1 minute ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

from what knowledge I know of, I’d like UConn, Kansas and Alabama in that order, then probably Houston, Duke and Gonzaga in some order. That top 3 is in a tier, then the next 3. UConn is at the point where I just have to trust the pedigree, plus they did a great job of grooming the Clingan replacement. He got some great minutes in high leverage games, so Samson should be ready to go day 1. I could see having Kansas at third with losing out on Kugel and Philon, but they lost those dudes bc they already had a ridiculous rotation. Should be a revenge tour type year for them 

Yea, I just don’t see any team matching up with Kansas talent wise. UCONN has so many good pieces but again, I give the edge to them because of coaching. I just don’t think UAT has a top 5 starting 5. I mean, if you are putting them at number 3, why isn’t Auburn at least 5 or 6? If I remember correctly, Auburn did beat the same players coming back by 18 right? But again, we’re going to agree to disagree. But yes, I think Duke, UCONN, Houston and Kansas have way better starting 5s than UAT.

[AUSCalum87 453]

8 minutes ago, arktiger1975 said:

My current top 10:

1. UConn

2. Iowa St

3. Houston

4. Baylor

5. Auburn 

6. Kansas 

7. Alabama 

8. Gonzaga

9. Texas A & M

10. Duke

I would have Auburn and UAT switched. I also think Baylor is too high. I think they are closer to outside the top 10 than being in the top 3.

[AUSCalum87 453]

10 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

That they did - to me you take the good with the bad. They had an elite OOC schedule and looked really good, outside of the very end of those games. That trend followed them into tourney play. Auburn looked…solid? In OOC play. That trend followed them into the tourney.

It’s really just whichever result you prefer. You got one team that showed up for conference play a little bit more than the other (keep in mind Alabama had the same conf record that we did and played Florida, Kentucky and Tennessee almost twice as many times as we did, which I think gets lost in this attempted point.) and you got another team that did more out of OOC. But it is nuts to me to say we looked like a way better team (when evaluating how the schedules played out) even before their tournament run. No metrics would say that and the record didn’t say that

I have to ask you this DTR. If UAT had Auburn’s draw and had to draw UCONN in the Sweet 16, and they lost, would your perception be different than it is now? I really want you to be honest. I really believe your perception, like others, are really skewed because they went to the Final 4 and apparently those last 6 games of the season before the NCAA tournament meant nothing. I really want you to be truthful. If they had to play UCONN in the Sweet 16 and lost, would you still have them as the best team now? I can tell you for certain you and most others would have them as a top 10 pick but nowhere near top 5.

[arktiger1975 643]

9 minutes ago, AUSCalum87 said:

Yea, it’s why I change the channel or listen to something else when they start talking. These sports media types push a lot of agendas. Again, why has no one discussed about before the NCAA tournament UAT that their last 4 losses were blowouts and almost lost to Arkansas at home in overtime in the last weekend? Why is that not relevant? And why is it not relevant that they had the easiest path to the final 4 in decades? They played beat a 13, 12, 1, 7 and lost by double digits to UCONN. These are facts. But let’s ignore it because they made it to the final four and they 4 players returning from that team. I still ask how did they upgrade at their guard position when Youngblood and the kid from Pepperdine are ranked lower than Pegues as well as Aden who was nothing at Auburn. Again, it is recency bias as well as pushing agendas. Who cares that Auburn beat them by almost 20, that doesn’t count. Ok, I’m stopping, getting frustrated again. 🤣 

When I did quick research for my top 10, I'm just not seeing it with bama. Lost a couple of key guys, and their additions are underwhelming to me. Without Sears, they would be a fringe top 25 team. I know in football, Phil Steele has something called the "luck factor". Which basically says that if a team got a lot of breaks the year before, they will almost certainly be overvalued to begin the following season. They certainly had more than their share of good fortune last year. A good comparison would be 2014 Auburn football. We were overrated, got a lot of breaks in 2013.

[arktiger1975 643]

8 minutes ago, AUSCalum87 said:

I would have Auburn and UAT switched. I also think Baylor is too high. I think they are closer to outside the top 10 than being in the top 3.

I'm not buying Duke or UNC either. I think Flagg is a bit overrated. And as far as UNC, I'm not a big Hubert Davis fan (at least as a coach).

[AUSCalum87 453]

3 minutes ago, arktiger1975 said:

When I did quick research for my top 10, I'm just not seeing it with bama. Lost a couple of key guys, and their additions are underwhelming to me. Without Sears, they would be a fringe top 25 team. I know in football, Phil Steele has something called the "luck factor". Which basically says that if a team got a lot of breaks the year before, they will almost certainly be overvalued to begin the following season. They certainly had more than their share of good fortune last year. A good comparison would be 2014 Auburn football. We were overrated, got a lot of breaks in 2013.

I think they got some good pieces but unknown pieces for their backups. I don’t see any huge upgrades as well. I mean, are we really admitting that Riley Griffen was a nobody? Or that Estrada was trash? I don’t see any of those incoming guards being better than them this year. And again, overhyping Nelson because he played well in 3-4 games of the tournament but ignore his whole body of work and got dominated by Auburn’s bigs. Bit that doesn’t matter because that was a fluke (or so it sounds like what some people believe). But yes, if you look at it objectively, UAT and Auburn had basically the same season except Auburn didn’t get blown out in almost every loss. I just wish people would be objective and not use selective stats to push their narrative. Who cares they played tougher teams in the nonconference? 2 of those 4 games were losses by double digits. A loss is a loss. Here’s what UAT had that made them do better than Auburn, as it has been in the past 3 years: competent and above average guard play. That’s it.

[AUSCalum87 453]

6 minutes ago, arktiger1975 said:

I'm not buying Duke or UNC either. I think Flagg is a bit overrated. And as far as UNC, I'm not a big Hubert Davis fan (at least as a coach).

As much as I don’t like Duke, they have a loaded roster and I think they’ll be one of the best teams this year. UNC brings back some key pieces as well, and I will concede though that I would put them outside the top 10 for now. They seem to underperform a lot with the amount of talent they have on a yearly basis.

[arktiger1975 643]

2 minutes ago, AUSCalum87 said:

As much as I don’t like Duke, they have a loaded roster and I think they’ll be one of the best teams this year. UNC brings back some key pieces as well, and I will concede though that I would put them outside the top 10 for now. They seem to underperform a lot with the amount of talent they have on a yearly basis.

Do you think Scheyer is a good enough coach to get them over the hump? I also agree about UNC underperforming. Davis hasn't done that great outside of that fluke Final Four run. Missed the tournament altogether in 2022, and their regular season success this year was fool's gold since the ACC was so down. He is definitely no Roy Williams or Dean Smith.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,992]

34 minutes ago, AUSCalum87 said:

I have to ask you this DTR. If UAT had Auburn’s draw and had to draw UCONN in the Sweet 16, and they lost, would your perception be different than it is now? I really want you to be honest. I really believe your perception, like others, are really skewed because they went to the Final 4 and apparently those last 6 games of the season before the NCAA tournament meant nothing. I really want you to be truthful. If they had to play UCONN in the Sweet 16 and lost, would you still have them as the best team now? I can tell you for certain you and most others would have them as a top 10 pick but nowhere near top 5.

If they had Auburn’s draw, they wouldn’t have beat multiple great teams like UNC and Clemson, so yes, they’d have a different perception.
You are thinking my perception is based on “they just made the final 4 so they’re elite” - it’s not. They were a great team all season that played about as hard an OOC as you could, and looked great against that OOC AND looked great in the tourney, which is a continuation of the OOC. You have actively diminished that because for you, the conference play seemingly matters MUCH more. Which is a fine opinion to have, but I personally believe that if you schedule hard, you play great against that hard schedule, you’re better built for the tourney. They deserve brownie points for preparing themselves for March.

And people think I’m biased for Alabama in this respect, but don’t ask any important questions like “hey, do you feel like this about other teams”…YES, I do!!! UConn, same thing. Kansas, same thing. Marquette, same thing. You deserve more props for playing a super hard schedule that potentially tanks your record before January, and deserve even more props if you still have a good in conference record.
 

Alabama had a tough finish to the end of the regular season…okay! They played harder IN CONFERENCE schedule than we did. They played the 3 best teams outside of themselves and us more times. They played all the hard teams we had one off series with - Tennessee, Kentucky, SCar and Florida - and played two of those TWICE. Isn’t it just crazy that a team that played more hard games had more blowout losses? You think Auburn who got stomped by Florida on the road, Kentucky at home, lost by 8 to Tenn, you think that team isn’t getting handed at least another blow out if they played a couple more games against the aforementioned quartet? 

Edited May 30 by Dual-Threat Rigby

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,992]

Miles Kelly thread is just the general rankings thread at this point 

everyone get together and pray we don’t end up matched in UConn’s bracket again.